The alleged lynching of a 27-year-old from Kerala in South 24-Parganas’ Kultali during a visit to his colleague’s home last week has placed the BJP government in Bengal under scrutiny a month after it assumed office.

Victim Sandip Naik from Mangalapuram in Kerala was allegedly beaten to death by a mob in Kultali, which suspected him of being a thief.

The incident, which took place on June 9 but came to light days later through viral videos online, has prompted demands for an impartial probe from the Opposition and civil society groups.

While the police have so far arrested seven persons, including two minors, in connection with the incident, questions continue to be raised over the circumstances that led to the youth’s death and the apparent failure to prevent the mob attack.

Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal described the incident as “extremely shocking” and alleged that states governed by the BJP were increasingly becoming breeding grounds for “hatred and violence”.

He has written to Union home minister Amit Shah and chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, seeking their intervention to ensure a thorough “impartial investigation”.

“I have written to the Union HM Sh. Amit Shah and WB CM Sh. Suvendu Adhikari seeking their intervention to ensure that no matter the circumstances, the law & order situation should not deteriorate in such a manner that mobs take law into their own hands,” the Congress MP from Kerala’s Alappuzha wrote on X.

Venugopal, on his social media handle, asserted that the mob murder reflected a dangerous erosion of the rule of law.

Investigators believe that the language barrier prevented Sandip from explaining his identity to residents, leading to his death.

Police sources said Naik, a Malayalam-speaking youth, arrived in Kultali around two weeks ago and had been staying at a colleague’s home. The police could not specify Naik’s profession.

On June 9, he reportedly went to a nearby market to purchase some items but lost his way. He was subsequently seen wandering in Kultali’s Sankijahan where his unfamiliar presence aroused suspicion among residents.

According to preliminary findings, several villagers stopped him and demanded that he identify himself.

However, as he neither spoke nor understood Bengali, confusion mounted and suspicion against him among the bystanders deepened.

Dissatisfied with his responses, a group of villagers allegedly tied him to a lamppost with a rope and assaulted him mercilessly on suspicion of theft. Police said the attackers abandoned him on the roadside after he collapsed.

Kultali police later received information that an unidentified man was critically injured.

Officers shifted him to Jaynagar-Kultali Rural Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Police sources said some residents who stopped Sandip later claimed rumours had circulated that he had behaved inappropriately with a pregnant woman which allegedly fuelled public anger. However, investigators did not substantiate the allegation and maintained that the matter was under investigation.

Although the incident occurred on June 9, cops initially failed to ascertain the exact circumstances behind the death.

It was only after videos of the assault surfaced on social media three days later that investigators were able to connect the victim’s death to the mob attack.

A murder case was subsequently registered on June 13.

Palash Dhali, the superintendent of police of Baruipur police district, said that seven persons, including two minors, who were suspected to be directly linked to the lynching, had been arrested.

“A case has been registered under Section 103 (murder) of the BNS in connection with the death,” Dhali said.

A senior police officer said: “We have recovered the victim’s mobile phone. We are quite hopeful of arresting all those involved in the alleged incident of lynching.”